Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., right, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., join a bipartisan group of leading senators to announce Monday that they have reached agreement on the principles of sweeping legislation to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws.

The immigration reform framework unveiled Monday by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators outlines a rational approach to solving one of the nation’s thorniest problems, but no one should be celebrating just yet.

The as-yet-undefined details on key tenets of the reform effort will make or break the initiative.

And there remains the question of how the balky, GOP-controlled House will react to anything that involves compromise.

Yet we are hopeful that politics and demographics may finally push federal lawmakers to action, the way that conscience and good sense, unfortunately, have failed to do.

The 11 million illegal immigrants who live, work and go to schools in this country are a manifestation of an immigration system that has worked for almost no one.

The broad outlines of the deal announced Monday by senators, including Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet, takes on all the big bullet points in the immigration debate.

They include: measurably tighter border security; a path to citizenship for those already here; a legal way for more temporary workers to enter the country; retention of highly skilled immigrants educated here; and establishing a reliable system for employers to check immigration status.

Coming to agreement on implementing these laudable ideas will be the difficult work that could once again cause immigration reform efforts to implode.

The fundamental compromise that is the foundation of this deal paradoxically encompasses both the strength of the framework and the issue most likely to blow up during a negotiation of details.

The proposal would allow illegal immigrants with an otherwise clean criminal record to pursue citizenship after paying a fine and back taxes.

But that hinges on stepped-up security measures that must be achieved first, including clamping down even more on the border.

President Obama already has pushed hard to stop illegal crossings and deport those without legal status who commit serious crimes. Obama has taken heat from some corners over the high number of deportations, and from others who want to see more stringent measures.

How tight does the border need to be and what measurements will be relied upon? What technology is to be used? A physical fence won’t cut it.

And there will be questions from reform advocates about “going to the back of the line” for citizenship. How long is the line and will it stretch for decades because it merely piles on a system that’s already too bureaucratic?

Unfortunately, the question of attaining citizenship — and the ability to vote in elections — has political ramifications that will be the subtext to any talk of a path to citizenship.

Yet we hold out hope that this Congress can find common purpose in reshaping the immigration landscape to address the economic and social fallout this nation has suffered under a dysfunctional system.